To Protect You
by Kagehime3
Summary: During the Grand Magic Games, Gajeel learns that Ivan knew of his duplicity as a spy in the worst way possible. When Levy's attacked because of him, he vows to keep her safe, even at the cost of his own happiness. GaLe, NaLu hint, LEMON!


**Another GaLe one shot, with a LEMON!**

**I wrote this around the Lucy vs. Flare Chapter so anything that happened after is not included (such as that ominous note from Levy), instead this is my take on what would happen if Ivan learned of Gajeel's original mission and Gajeel's reaction to Levy being used against him. It focuses mostly on his reaction after the fact, as well as Levy's, since I don't know much about what Raven Tail's capable of I don't feel like expanding on them.**

**I do not own Fairy Tail, if I did, I'd know what the hell was going to happen after that chapter 274, but only Hiro Mashima knows... sadly.**

* * *

><p>Late at night, during the Grand Magical Games in the capital city of Crocas, a certain iron dragon slayer found himself storming through the city on the hunt for a certain guild mate who had wandered from the hotel that night. Gajeel Redfox was worried and agitated over the sudden disappearance of the small, blue-haired Levy McGarden only a few nights into the competition.<p>

He couldn't help but worry for the bookworm, solid script mage who seemed to have a knack for getting herself into trouble. To make matters worse, Raven Tail, a former dark guild run by their master's rather creepy and sadistic son, was blatantly targeting Fairy Tail members during the tournament. His fellow dragon slayer, Wendy Marvell, had already been attacked and taken out of the competition before the games had even gotten under way. The ice make mage, Gray Fullbuster, had been targeted constantly by a Raven Tail mage during the first game of the tournament, and shortly after he had to watch the guild's bunny girl celestial mage, Lucy Heartfilia, fight another Raven mage who obviously had no intention of fighting fair; losing after her most powerful spell was cancelled out by outside interference.

The rival guild's actions were certainly something to be concerned over, but even worse for him was his former role as a double agent infiltrating that very same rival guild. After returning from a 7 year stasis on their guild's holy island, Gajeel never attempted to contact Master Ivan again, granted he had pulled back drastically even before getting stuck on Tenrou Island. He had a bad feeling that in the time he was gone, Ivan had figured out where his allegiances truly lay, meaning he was most certainly at risk of being targeted, and if not him, then anyone Ivan may feel was close to him. There were only a handful of people in the guild he gave a damn about, and out of that handful he could count on one hand the people he'd admit he actually cared about.

Levy was one of those, and she made for a good target. He knew that from experience.

Gajeel had already discussed his concerns with Master Makarov, and the wise mage agreed with the young dragon slayer's concerns. That night Master made sure the main fighters in the guild knew of Gajeel's previous mission, so that they could be prepared for whatever may come.

Unfortunately, Levy hadn't been around during the impromptu meeting between Fairy Tail's two teams, and hadn't been seen since they had reached the hotel. Her own teammates had admitted to not seeing her since she entered her own room for the night, and when Gajeel took it upon himself to check on her, he found her room empty. Without a word he stormed out of the hotel, following her quickly fading scent to a nearby park.

When he found the script mage, he wanted to sigh in relief as she appeared to be walking back towards the hotel with a bag of food, perfectly safe. Instead he walked up to the confused woman, picked her up after taking her bag, and carried her back to the hotel over one shoulder. As soon as they reached the hotel; drawing many amused stares from relieved guild mates as they watched the dragon slayer manhandle the girl who was futilely pounding her fists on his back to get him to put her down, he carried her up to her room and threw her down on the bed after slamming the door shut.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YER DOIN', SHRIMP?" Gajeel hollered at the girl, every bit of concern he had for her coming out as anger at her decision to wander from the group with an enemy guild attacking them.

"I was hungry and wanted to go for a walk," Levy answered, seemingly unfazed by the large man's outburst.

"After what's happened the last two days, you really think it's a good idea to go running around town alone… at night?" The dragon slayer growled at the woman.

The bluenette had the sense to look sheepish as she stared down at her lap, her hands fisting together as she realized that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go out alone.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I just had a lot on my mind, but I know I should have asked someone to go with me."

Gajeel just sighed before falling onto the bed next to the girl, forcing her to brace herself as her slender body jumped up from the impact.

"What they hell had you so distracted that you'd do something this stupid, Levy?" He asked quietly, looking at the woman through the corner of one red eye.

"Ummm… well…" Levy began before she reached a hand down the front of her dress and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to him as she spoke. "I found this in my room when I got back."

The iron mage took the paper from her slightly trembling hand, opening it after a quick glance at the girl, and read over its contents, going wide eyed with every word.

"Fuck," he growled, before crumbling the note in his hand, for once wishing he had Natsu's fire abilities so he could burn the parchment from the planet.

The note was without a doubt from Master Ivan, and he made it obvious to Gajeel with this stunt that he knew about his role as a spy for Fairy Tail. His letter to Levy was an attempt to separate the girl from him by making her doubt his loyalties to Fairy Tail. If Ivan didn't know he was a spy for his father, then he wouldn't have said anything, believing that Gajeel was still working for him; but trying to out him as an infiltrating Raven Tail member meant he was after him.

Looking back at the woman still sitting next to him, he couldn't help but feel relieved that she obviously didn't believe the letter. If she truly felt doubt about where he stood, she wouldn't have shown him the note, she wouldn't be sitting with him so casually, and she would have gone back to hiding from him in fear.

"I'm guessing you don't believe this, do you?" He asked after tossing the paper onto the floor, he wouldn't destroy it yet, he needed to show it to Master first.

Levy shook her head in response before looking up at him with concerned eyes.

"At first I was shocked, and confused, I didn't want to believe it, and really couldn't, but finding that note here was rather unexpected." She confessed to him. "The next thing I knew I was walking through town trying to sort out my thoughts. When I realized what I was doing I went to one of the food stores so that I had some excuse for being out. Then you found me and that alone told me the letter was a lie."

"Glad to know you got some faith in me there, Shrimp," Gajeel said, throwing an arm around the girl to pull her against his side, "but you should know that it's not a total lie."

The dragon held tight as Levy tried to pull away, looking up at his face with wide, questioning eyes as he sighed, running a hand threw his hair in annoyance.

"If ya hadn't of wandered off, you'd have heard about this from Master… Back when Master invited me into the guild, he gave me a secret assignment to test my loyalties, I guess. Anyway, I was to infiltrate Raven Tail by making Master Ivan believe I was working for him as a spy, but I was only there to get his whereabouts and activities for Master Makarov. After Laxus' little stunt I had managed to get the information I needed and had pulled back, then we got stuck on Tenrou Island for 7 years. When we came back from that, I didn't try to get in contact with Ivan again, Master and I both agreed that the time away had made it far too dangerous for me to return. Obviously that's true since Ivan's figured out where my allegiances lie and doesn't seem too happy about it." He explained in full to the girl who had relaxed in his grip again and seemed to be deep in thought.

"So then, the only thing I'm confused about is why he left the note with me?" She asked, looking at him with a confused pout as she tried to figure out her connection to everything.

"He knows about our past," was all Gajeel could say. He wasn't ready to admit to her that she was an important person to him, as far as she needed to know, she was targeted because she'd be the most likely to doubt him because of what he had done to her. She seemed doubtful of his reason, something he wasn't surprised about considering how smart she was, but she wasn't prying so he wasn't going to expand on that. "Alright, Shrimp, I don't want to have to hunt you down again, got that? So next time you need to go somewhere, come find me, or Lily, or Erza, or fucking Salamander… I don't care, just someone who can fight with you if someone goes after you."

With her quick nod of agreement, he stood up, ruffling her hair before moving to leave the room. As he left, he couldn't help but wonder at the blush that suddenly appeared on her face. He had been noticing that more and more since they came back, and it confused him to no end as to why she would be blushing around him. Gajeel could only shrug off that curiosity; he had more important things to be concerned about, like making sure his bookworm was safe.

* * *

><p>Only a few days after Levy had wandered off, Gajeel learned that he had good reason to worry about her being used against him. The tournament had been going along the same as it had the first day; Raven Tail blatantly targeting Fairy Tail, especially Fairy Tail's A team. For the most part B team had been spared a great deal of the torment, something that Gajeel was very confused about, but when it was his turn to battle, he came to find that they were just waiting for the right opportunity. That opportunity came when he was chosen to battle Raven Tail's knight, a man hidden behind a mask that he didn't remember from his short time within Ivan's guild.<p>

At first the battle seemed to be going smoothly, they were trading blows, trash talking, nothing out of the norm. That is until Gajeel was in the process of sending a pillar of iron into the knight's chest from half way across the arena.

If it hadn't of been for his control over his magic; the beam of iron extending from his arm would have smashed Levy's skull in. Luckily for Gajeel, the moment he caught her scent and saw her trapped in the other mage's arms, he halted his attack mere inches from her shocked face.

"What the fuck are you playing at?" He growled to his opponent after pulling his arm back in, glaring darkly at the man he could only imagine had a smug look hidden beneath his mask.

"Just making sure you see what happens when you betray Master Ivan," the knight explained casually before tightening his armored grip around the woman's neck, forcing her to cry out as the metal dug into her skin.

Gajeel had no idea how he had gotten Levy into the arena. He hadn't seen the man move an inch when he launched his last attack, but there was no doubt that the woman trapped there was the script mage. The shouts of her name coming from Fairy Tail's section, as well as from the two teams, told him as much as her scent did that she was not in the stands where she belonged.

"Let her go, she has no place in this," he growled again while crouching to prepare for an attack. He had to time everything right if he wanted to grab her without getting her injured in the process.

"She doesn't?" Was the amused response from his enemy, who continued to tighten his hold until Gajeel caught the scent of her blood in the air. "I do believe she does, considering how very important she is to you. You swore to yourself that you'd protect her to help make up for your sins against her. You swore you'd help pick her back up and make her strong again. You swore you'd never allow her to be hurt by your hands again."

Gajeel could only grit his teeth as the man spoke nothing but the truth, how he knew all that was beyond him.

"And somewhere along the way," he continued, "you came to care about her as more than a path to redemption, didn't you? That's what makes seeing her here; nearly crushed by your own attack, trapped in an enemy's grip, completely at my mercy, that's what makes you suffer."

As soon as the knight was done speaking, Levy began screaming in agony as a bright light engulfed her. Whatever was happening to her; Gajeel thought, was far more painful than anything he had done to her when with Phantom Lord. When he attacked her, she fought back, but never cried out as loudly as she was then. Even so, her pained screams brought back a rush of memories for him as his ever present guilt overtook him. Instead of wallowing in despair, as his opponent must have thought would happen, he launched himself at the sadistic mage and leveled a metalized elbow into the man's face.

He had never moved so fast in his life, not even with Wendy's support magic. Gajeel was seeing red as he covered his body in iron scales, the only magic he intended to use on his opponent at that point. As soon as he got Levy to safety, he was going to crush Raven Tail's knight with his bare metalized hands and teach him and everyone there to never mess with a Fairy Tail dragon slayer.

As soon as his attack hit the knight, Levy was released from the man's grip. Gajeel caught the woman in his arms easily before she could hit the ground and jumped over to his team to hand her over to them. She was unconscious, but he at least knew she was safe.

When he returned to his fight with the knight, everything happened in a blur as chaos erupted in the arena. He knew Raven Tail must have attacked the other team, but he didn't care at that point, he had his target in front of him, and he was going to pay for daring to touch his Levy. That girl accepted him even after everything he had put her through; she had forgiven him after a simple act of blocking an oncoming attack. He had broken her down, but he was happy to see her begin to shine again, and he'd be damned if someone came along and ruined all that hard work.

By the end of that day, the arena was cleared out, Raven Tail had been arrested, and the games postponed. Gajeel had crushed the knight so thoroughly; he was honestly surprised there was anything left to take into custody. He still couldn't clear away all of the guilt the attack on Levy had brought out in him, though. The reminders of his past, the pure helplessness he felt when he saw her in pain, the proof that no matter what he thought, he could never actually have her. If he had stayed in the shadows like he had originally planned, watching her from a distance, protecting her only when necessary, then maybe she would have been spared. But he became attached, he began to care, and that meant his enemies had a target, and he'd be damned if he'd let that happen again.

Gajeel couldn't help it as he avoided the small script mage for the next two weeks, most of that time she was still recovering, but even after they had returned to the guild he did his best to keep his distance. His Exceed partner had attempted to convince him to approach the young woman, but the iron mage continued to sulk in the shadows while watching over her.

As the third week of Gajeel's self imposed withdrawal from Levy began; everyone in the guild tread cautiously around the easily irritated iron dragon and surprisingly sullen script mage. Only a few dared to approach Gajeel in his dark corner of the guild in the hopes of drawing him out to talk to the girl, but he stubbornly refused to, despite how much he may have wanted to.

"Don't you think you're punishing her more than yourself, Gajeel?" Lily asked his partner.

"I don't know what you're talking about, cat."

"Yes you do, idiot. You're keeping your distance because you feel like you failed at protecting her."

"That ain't it. I just don't want her to be used as a target for any of my other enemies." Gajeel stubbornly defended his actions.

"How many enemies did you honestly make in this world?" Lily asked in disbelief, he knew his partner was rather gruff and sadistic, but he didn't think he'd have more enemies than Raven Tail after him.

"You heard what I did to this guild before I joined," the dragon reasoned, not wanting to elaborate on his time with Phantom Lord and the rather fine line he had walked between good and evil.

"While that may be the case, the people here forgave you, and they'd do anything to protect one of their own; so you shouldn't have to worry about any of your supposed enemies of the past."

"I'm not taking that risk."

Lily just sighed at his stubbornness before letting his eyes wander to the blue haired script mage his teammate had been staring at the entire time they had been talking.

"She misses you," the black panther quietly told him, seeing Levy glance at the iron dragon for a moment, sadness and hurt painted over her expression.

"Don't know why she would." Gajeel grumbled as he let his head fall to the table, turning it to keep his eyes on the woman still.

"I honestly don't know why either, but for whatever reason, she does."

The black haired dragon merely grunted at his cat, not bothering to respond to the veiled insult aimed at him.

"You miss her, too." Lily continued, once again receiving only a noncommittal grunt as a response. With a sigh the cat walked across the table to his partner's head and kicked it as hard as he could in his small form, successfully gaining the severely depressed man's attention. "What exactly is she to you?"

"Wha'dya mean, cat?"

"I know she's important to you, I know you care about her safety, and I know you actually like being around her. But what do you want to see her as in your life? A ward to protect, a friend, or maybe something more? And when I say want, I mean _want_. If you could forget everything about your past with her, everything about the danger you could bring into her life, and just think about the future, what is it that you want to see happen?"

Gajeel just scowled at his cat before turning his head down on the table and covering it with his arms, almost trying to hide away from whatever truth his partner wanted him to see. The iron dragon knew exactly what he wanted from the blue haired woman, and he knew that it was something he could never have so it was pointless to consider. He wanted her to belong to him, he honestly didn't know why, but he did. She was amazing, small, cute, smart, everything he wasn't.

It was practically instinct for him, he felt drawn to her and he couldn't help it, that's why he was honestly torturing himself by staying away from her like he was. He figured it was a dragon thing, even though he was human, his magic gave him the traits of the dragon he was raised by. He knew it was similar for Natsu; the pink haired idiot seemed to have just as strong of instincts towards his blonde partner, even if he wasn't aware of their meaning yet. But Gajeel was determined to ignore those instincts because they'd only lead Levy into more trouble then she deserved to be in.

Gajeel heard Lily sigh again before feeling another sharp hit to the head, this time he could tell his partner went into his battle form to hit the large man harder. The iron dragon growled in annoyance but turned to the former Edolas soldier to glare at the now large panther standing next to him.

"Fine, I'm fuckin' in love with her… happy?" Gajeel growled lowly. "I'm in love with the girl I beat within an inch of her life and bolted to a tree in the middle of Magnolia. I'm in love with the girl who should hate me after I crushed her spirit and tore her life upside down. I don't deserve her, I can hardly protect her any better then her two dumbass partners can. She shouldn't even need to be protected; she should be able to live her life safe from monsters like me."

Lily stared wide eyed as the iron dragon slayer actually admitted to have feelings as deep as love for another human being; he knew the guy liked her and was possibly attracted to her, but hearing him actually say he loved her was rather surprising to the large cat.

"How… wha'… wow," was all Lily could get out in his shock as he shrunk back to his everyday Earthland form.

"Yeah, wow… fucking instincts," Gajeel mumbled back before turning his attention back to where the topic of their discussion had been moments before, only to see the spot vacant. With a sigh he pulled himself up from his seat and headed for the door. "I'm going home."

Lily could only watch the large man slump through the guild and out the doors, every member of the guild pausing in their conversations to watch the defeated man leave. It seemed everyone knew what was going on, and couldn't help but pity the tortured man.

"Hopefully he'll cheer up once he gets home," Lucy piped up from her table, drawing everyone's attention to the blonde mage, smiling innocently but not elaborating. She knew far more than anyone else in the guild when it came to Gajeel and Levy's strange relationship; she was one of Levy's best friends, and also Gajeel's begrudging backup dancer. Even if the latter mage wasn't all that open with her about his feelings for the bluenette, she had spent enough time with him by that point to figure it out on her own.

Seeing they weren't going to get any answers from the blonde anytime soon, the mages of Fairy Tail went back to their conversations and fights, hoping that she was at least right in her assumption.

* * *

><p>Gajeel came to a dead stop ten yards from his house as he spotted the familiar blue head of hair that could belong to only one person, and that very person he was trying to stay away from. Levy was sitting on the steps to his home, watching him, waiting for him. He had no idea how she knew where he lived, but considering the majority of their guild had a knack for stalking; him included, he wasn't too surprised.<p>

As he stood there with his mouth agape in shock, his body and mind warred with each other on what to do. His body wanted to run to her, pick her up, and hide her away in his home to keep her for himself forever. His mind wanted to keep up with his original plan of staying away from her, though even it seemed rather desperate to go to her as various images played out in his head. Making a quick decision to stick to his resolve, he turned to speed away from the woman as fast as possible. Unfortunately he found himself frozen again after only two steps when she called out to him.

"Gajeel Redfox! Don't you dare fucking walk away from me, you jerk!" The sweet, quiet Levy screamed at him as she stood, arms crossed, face set in a glare he didn't know she possessed.

The iron dragon was used to course language, he used it regularly, but he definitely wasn't used to hearing the small bookworm use such vulgar words, no matter how mad she may have been at him in the past. He couldn't help but find it incredibly hot, even though his mind was screaming at him to run like hell from the frighteningly irate woman standing a few yards away. His body didn't seem to want to obey, though, as he found himself turning and walking towards the woman before he could tell himself to run.

"What do ya want, Shrimp?" He asked, forcing his voice to be as cold and gruff as possible as he regained some sense of himself.

"I want to know why you've been avoiding me these last two weeks!" She growled at him, sending shivers down his spine as he looked down on her angry form.

"Tsh, none of yer business," he grunted while walking past her to enter his home.

"How is it none of my business that you've been staying as far away from me as possible? You literally just tried to run away from me now! I want to know what the hell I did to piss you off!" She hollered, obviously refusing to let him get away from the subject.

"I ain't mad at you; got that, so just leave me alone."

As Gajeel moved to enter the safety of his home and escape the woman, he was surprised when she literally attached herself to his back as he walked through his door. This woman, who not too long ago had cowered in fear of him, was now climbing up his back as if she had every right to be there. He figured she knew he wouldn't hurt her, whereas if it was anyone else, they'd have been pulled off and slammed into or through the nearest wall.

"What the hell do you think yer doin' now, woman?" he growled out, stopping in his open doorway as he waited for her to explain why she suddenly wanted him to give her a piggyback ride.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong, Gajeel," Levy huffed at the large man, locking her arms tight around his neck so he couldn't shake her off. "If I don't do this then you'll just go inside and slam the door in my face without another word. And I'm not about to sit here all night pounding on your door like a psychotic woman."

"So you figured it was less psychotic to jump on my back?" Gajeel mumbled, trying to hold back from laughing at the ridiculous reasoning she was using, though she was mostly correct about his intentions of escaping her.

"So are you going to talk to me or are we just going to stay like this for awhile?"

As much as Gajeel didn't mind the idea of her riding him, his version was decidedly more perverted and definitely uncalled for in the situation. So with a growl of defeat he walked into his house, the small mage still firmly attached to his back, and slammed the door shut.

"Damn it, Levy!" The iron dragon hollered out as he carried her to the couch and bent over to flip the small woman over his head, throwing her down on the cushions before walking away to the kitchen. "Why the fuck do you care so much if I don't talk to you?"

"Is it really so hard for you to believe that there's someone else out there who might actually enjoy talking to you?"

"Of course not! I just don't know how someone like _you _could want to be around me so much?"

"Why shouldn't I want to be around you? I thought we were friends?" Levy asked as she picked herself up from the couch to follow the retreating man into the other room.

"Gah! We are… or we were… damn it. I just don't want you around me, Levy!" Gajeel hollered, frustrated that she was actually cornering him about this. When he chanced a glance at her pouting face, he knew she didn't understand and was waiting for him to say more. "I don't want to have to keep saving you."

"And who said you had to save me all the time in the first place?" Levy reasoned, looking away from the dragon slayer as she tried to fight down the feelings of inadequacy she felt. "I know I'm small and weak, but that doesn't mean you have to come to my rescue every time I'm in trouble."

"That's not it, Levy! I feel responsible for your safety! I don't want to see you getting hurt again because of me!"

"So what then, is it because of _that_?" She asked quietly, putting emphasis on that last word so he knew exactly what she was talking about. "Because if it is, then I don't want you protecting me out of guilt."

"ARGH! I never said it was that either! Maybe at first! But now… argh! Why do you have to be so frustrating?" Gajeel yelled, walking circles around the small room in frustration, and to keep as much distance between himself and the woman leaning against the kitchen table. "Damnit, Levy! There are people out there who don't like me and would be more than happy to use you against me! It's happened once already and I'm not about to let it happen again!

"What, you don't think I already know you have enemies out there? You're probably the biggest asshole in our guild! Only Laxus is more of jerk than you are! Of course I expect you to have some people going after you, but that doesn't matter." Levy reasoned throwing her arms up in the air as she watched the tall man pace in front of her. "Our guild has plenty of its own enemies, hell we're currently allied with an independent guild made up of three fugitives. Does that matter to any one of us? NO, it doesn't! So what are you really trying to do by staying away from me?"

With her last question, Gajeel stopped in his pacing to stare straight ahead at the wall, his side turned to the woman as he tried to organize his reasoning again. After a long pause, he sighed out before turning guarded eyes to the script mage.

"Listen, Levy, you're important to me, okay," he started out quietly while walking to her, stopping to stand directly in front of her. "I broke you in the past, and I've been there as you put yourself back together. You're not weak, but if you stick around me you'll only end up broken again, and I won't allow that. I was supposed to be the one to protect you, but because of me you got hurt; I failed. So from now on, you have to stay away from me for your own good."

Levy only huffed in annoyance while crossing her arms again, looking away from the dragon slayer in front of her before speaking.

"So what, you're just going to sit in the shadows and watch me all the time?" She asked, amused to see the shock spread across his face. "You're not very subtle, Gajeel. There wasn't a moment these last two weeks that when I looked at you, you weren't staring back at me. You say you don't want to have to save me all the time, but you're still watching over me; you still plan on rescuing me every time I'm in trouble. You can't have it both ways. Either stay by my side and protect me, or pretend I don't exist at all so you don't have to deal with my troubles."

The iron mage couldn't help himself as he began to growl in frustration at the woman's stubbornness. As he leaned against the metal table, trapping the young woman between his arms, he brought his eyes to level with her own. Anyone else would have pissed their pants at the intimidating man glaring as he was then, growling with barely restrained anger, but Levy had learned quickly that she was never in any danger with this man. She could smack him, kick him, even try to kill him and he wouldn't do a damn thing to fight back against her; she was the only one who could claim that, too.

"Why can't you just leave this alone and let me do what I want, Shrimp?" Gajeel growled darkly at the woman who was glaring back with just as much determination.

"I can't leave this alone when you say you want one thing, but you clearly want another." Levy calmly explained. "So which is it going to be, Gajeel? What do you really want from me?"

Hearing that question asked a second time that day, Gajeel snapped, and before he realized it he had the small woman pinned beneath him on the table as he devoured her lips with his own, kissing her with all the passion, anger, and frustration he felt. And she was kissing him back.

The iron dragon had stopped thinking altogether as he felt Levy's legs wrap around his waist, pulling him closer, as they let everything they were feeling out into their kiss. He groaned into her mouth as he pressed his heavy, muscled body against her soft, slender one; letting his hands roam over the gentle dips and curves as he tried to memorize them in case it was all just a dream. He could feel her small hands digging into his hair, holding him tight so he wouldn't back away. He didn't want to back away, not now, not ever, not when he could plainly see that what he had been feeling was wholly return by the amazing woman in his grip.

Eventually they needed to breathe, so Gajeel pulled away just enough to trail kisses to Levy's ear, nipping on the lobe before burying his nose against her neck.

"I shouldn't be doing this," he murmured into her neck, but only held her tighter. "You shouldn't be here, you should be with someone who'll treat you like a fucking princess, put you on a pedestal, take care of your every need; protect you with their very lives. You should be running away from me as fast as you can."

"Hmmm, while I don't know about the princess part," Levy mused, turning her head enough to catch his gaze with her own, "You certainly do a pretty damn good job of all the rest. Sure, you're a jerk and tend to say stupid things that piss me off; but that's just who you are, and you make up for it eventually. And the last time I ran away from you, I nearly got killed, but you had come after me and saved me again."

Gajeel could only snort in amusement at her argument; she definitely had a point that he couldn't really argue, that's what he gets for falling for a smart girl. He'd probably treat her like a princess, too, but since he's a dragon it'd be more along the lines of locking her away in a tower to keep for himself.

"I still don't think I deserve you, Levy," he admitted, pushing himself up enough to look down on her and brush a stray strand of blue hair from her face.

"That's too bad, then, cuz I definitely disagree. For whatever reason there's no one else I want to be with, there never has been, and I doubt there ever will be. So, sorry, you're stuck with me." She shrugged at the now grinning man. "Unless you don't care about seeing me lonely and unhappy for the rest of my life."

"Oi, why you gotta say shit like that?"

"Well, if you insist on feeling guilty about everything that has to do with me, then I figured you need to feel guilt for something that you can actually fix. As long as I'm with you, no matter what danger you think may come our way, I know I'll be safe and happy until the very end. Unless you go and die on me, that is, then I'll hunt your spirit down and give you another ear full."

"Gi Hee, you probably wouldn't have to look too far, Shrimp, not like I could ever stay away from you anyway." Gajeel chuckled. "So… you actually want this? No matter what I say, you're not gonna change yer mind?"

"I realized that this is what I wanted when I was mad at you, idiot, so trust me I won't be changing my mind. When I ran off from you on Tenrou Island I kept telling myself I hated you," Levy explained, giggling when he actually pouted about her thoughts on hating him, "but then I really thought about who you were after coming to our guild, how much you seemed to have changed, and everything you had done for me up until then, and I knew I could never hate you. Then you went and saved me again, telling me not to leave your side; hard not to fall for a guy like that in my opinion."

"You got a weird way of figuring out your feelings, ya know," the iron dragon bluntly told her while leaning his face back down to hers. "Seriously, how do you go from hate to this that fast?"

"Well, they say there's a fine line between love and hate," she whispered to the man as she spoke against his lips before he grinned and captured her mouth once again, ending any further discussion of their relationship for the time being, at least until he thought of something himself.

"Ya know what, Shrimp?" He asked after pulling away a bit. "Now that I think about it, before Fairy Tail, I really hated you, too, and for no reason at all. Guess we're both pretty fucked up in love, then."

Levy only giggled before pulling him back down to continue where they left off, moaning into his mouth when his hand began to massage her thigh before slowly moving it's way up under her dress. In return the small woman began working at his feathered shirt, pulling it loose from his trousers so she could work her hands underneath and feel the tight cords of muscles flex and twitch at her every touch.

As the large man continued to kiss her senseless, he ground his hips against her concealed core, drawing deeper moans from both of their mouths. He eventually moved back to her neck, biting and suckling the skin until small welts appeared; marks to show everyone that she was his. When her small hands began to push his shirt up further, he pulled away to help her get better access, ripping the shirt over his head and taking off his metal clad gloves before collapsing onto her again. His hands went back to tracing a path up her sides until he felt the swells of her breasts, grabbing hold of the soft mounds as he moved his mouth's ministrations to her collarbone.

"Gajeel…" Levy whimpered while continuing with her own task of removing the man's cumbersome clothing, moving onto his waist coat and pants.

The iron dragon pulled away again when she whined, only to pull her up enough to pull her dress over her head, leaving the woman completely exposed to him except for a scrap of blue fabric hiding away her womanhood.

"Fuck, Levy, please tell me I'm not dreaming again," he groaned out, running his hands up her thighs, over her stomach and chest before trailing back again, appreciating every curve that would soon be his.

The bookworm only pulled his arm to drag him back down on top of her, drawing him into a slow and loving kiss as if to tell him that she was truly there. As they continued to sensually kiss, tasting each other thoroughly, Gajeel let one hand trail down to gently trace the woman's core before moving the fabric aside to insert a finger into her tight sheath.

"Aahhh," Levy cried out, griping his shoulders as his large finger stretched her virgin hole, relaxing into moans as he gently worked her small bundle of nerves with every thrust of the digit.

As she began to get used to the sensation, her juices flowing to make his movements easier, Gajeel added another finger as he prepared her for what he truly desired. He was going to be the first to have her, and he'd be damned if any others came after. He was never going to let her go now that she was his, not that she'd let him anyway.

"Levy," he groaned out against her neck, lightly grinding his still clothed member against her leg to relieve some of the ache. He could tell she was close, and as soon as that coil was almost completely wound, he was going to take her, but he wanted to make sure she understood first. He wasn't going to push her any farther if she didn't want that yet, even if it meant taking a very cold shower later while relieving himself of the pain.

He was happy to say she understood what he wanted, and didn't waste any time in reaching into his pants and grabbing hold of his throbbing member.

"Fuuuuuuck," was all he could say before quickly pulling back to tear away the only barriers keeping him from having her completely, bending back over her body as he lined himself up with her core.

"I can't make any promises; I'll try to be gentle," he whispered into her ear, "but it's still gonna hurt, Shrimp."

Levy only gave him a curt, slightly nervous nod before taking a deep breath to try and relax her body. As he entered her tight sheath, still sensitive from his earlier ministrations, she let out small cries and whimpers from the stretching. When he finally reached the thin membrane proving her purity, he pulled back just slightly before surging past; drawing a scream of pain from the girl that practically broke his heart right there.

As he held himself still in her painfully tight canal, Gajeel leaned up to lick at the tears falling down her face, and gave a soft kiss to her trembling lips in apology. After a few minutes of waiting for her to recover, he began to slowly pull out again, glad when no more pained cries came from her, and then gently thrust back in. As he repeated the slow, shallow thrusts, he continued to kiss her deeply until moans falling from her lips made him pull away to listen.

Levy couldn't believe the pain she had been in, but the surprise of Gajeel actually being so tender and gentle with her after had her relaxing completely as her body adjusted and she quickly began to enjoy the friction and sensations of him inside her. As the feeling improved more and more, she wrapped her legs tightly around the iron mage's waist to help draw him in deeper, signaling to the large man that he could speed up his pace.

Before either of them knew it, Gajeel was pounding into the slender woman, both letting their moans of ecstasy mix with the sound of skin slapping skin as they spiraled towards completion. When Levy finally felt the coil snap, sending surges of pleasure and warmth running through her body, she couldn't stop herself from calling out the dragon's name, letting everyone nearby know who she belonged to. The sudden contractions of her already tight sheath, along with the cries of his name from her lips, sent Gajeel tumbling over the edge after her, emptying himself into her womb as he collapsed on top of her with a low growl of her own name.

As the two mages panted, trying to catch their breath while still lying on the kitchen table, Gajeel rolled himself to the side just enough to not crush her with his larger frame. He didn't even try to contain his smug grin as he looked at Levy's sweat glistened, flushed, and truly exhausted face, meeting her tired eyes as he once again moved strands of blue hair plastered to her face.

"I love you, Levy," he whispered, finally daring to admit it aloud to her, as he leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"I love you, too, Gajeel," she whispered back, turning into his embrace to snuggle against his bare chest.

As she moved, Gajeel couldn't help but hear the table lightly creak beneath him, and he realized that as strong as the table was, it wouldn't be a very good idea to fall asleep there. With that thought, he gathered the small script mage in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, her legs still stubbornly wrapped around his waist, though he hardly minded. Curling around her under the thick blankets, he couldn't help but think that he was going to sleep better than he ever had, and knew that it was going to be that way every night from then on. With a smile on both their faces, the two mages of such opposite natures fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, tucked away safely in each other's arms.

* * *

><p>Later that night a tired Pantherlily let himself into the home he shared with the iron dragon slayer, and moved towards the man's bedroom to get a good night's sleep. As he passed by the kitchen, though, he stopped to inspect the curious state of the room; the light was still on, and clothes were scattered across the floor and kitchen table. He clearly recognized his partner's normal metal and feather clad attire, but was surprised to see a distinctly feminine orange dress that he knew could belong to only one person.<p>

Deciding to see if his assumptions were correct, the Exceed quietly crept back to the bedroom and grinned as he caught sight of Levy sleeping peacefully in Gajeel's arms, both human mages obviously quite content. Lily figured it would be rather awkward for all involved if he slept in there as he normally would, so he turned to make himself comfortable on the couch, his small size coming in handy for just such a situation.

"Well, I guess now I know what Lucy was talking about," he mumbled to himself as he drifted to sleep himself, glad that his partner's drama was finally over with.

_Fin_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: I figured I'd let all my reviewers know that I am going to work on a Natsu X Lucy X Sting one-shot since so many of you requested one after my Gajeel X Levy X Rouge story. So be patient, I have a vague idea, I'm just trying to work out the details in my head.<strong>_  
><em>


End file.
